


Around the Fire

by Name1



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, New Friends, Pining, s2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:29:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27304891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Name1/pseuds/Name1
Summary: Just Din and his new friend shooting the shit around the campfire. The conversation takes a turn he wasn't expecting, because of course it does.
Relationships: Cara Dune/The Mandalorian, Din Djarin & Cara Dune, Din Djarin and Cobb Vanth, Din Djarin/Cara Dune
Comments: 15
Kudos: 99





	Around the Fire

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this tiny little snippet. I couldn't help myself. Forgive any typos, I'll circle back and edit it later :)

Din found himself surprisingly calm, sitting around the campfire with the Tuskens and his unlikely comrade. The banthas were tied down and circled up for the night and the conversations had died down so the only sound was the crackling fire. The kid was calm and warm and most importantly safe between his boots, but he knew he wouldn’t be falling sleep anytime soon with these strangers all around him.

This guy to his right seemed alright, he thought. Honest, at the very least—he didn’t lie about the armor or where he got it and he even made a reasonable deal to hand it over. It didn’t even take any convincing on Din’s part for him to recognize it belong with real Mandalorians. Not only that, but Vanth appeared to care about the people who looked for him for protection. He wasn’t some self-appointed king or despot, but a took his role of protecting them seriously. At the very least, Din could respect that aspect of this man’s character, if not the game of dress-up he was playing--though for a good cause.

The man in question didn’t seem like would be going to sleep any time soon either and struck up a conversation with him. “You know, you seem unnaturally relaxed about this whole thing,” The Marshall of Mos Pelgo said, trying to feel out the situation they were walking into.

Din shrugs. “I’ve done this before. I’m confident it’ll work again.”

“What do you mean, you’ve done this before?” Vanth asks, curiously. It’s unlikely he’s taken down this type of creature before.

Dins not really in a talkative mood, but he feels he owes this guy some explanation since he’s risking the lives of his people alongside him to face a fully grown krayt dragon. He clarifies a bit. “I meant saving a village from an outside threat by enlisting the townspeople to help,” he says, and hopes that’s the end of the comparison.

“How’d you do it before?” the other man inquires. _Apparently, the comparison wasn’t over after all._

Din almost smiles under the helmet at the memory, before he remembers that she’s not here to call him out on it. “I had Cara that time,” he slips up and says. “It was easy with someone who fought in the war, was a hell of a soldier and a loyal friend.” He almost can’t stop talking. “I wasn’t the one who blew up an AT-ST with small gauge ammo on foot,” he explains, “then took out half a fleet of enemies single-handedly, smiling the whole time.”

He looks down between his feet at the kid who’s suddenly interested in the conversation when he heard that particular name said aloud. He looks down and addresses him directly. “What do you say kid? You miss Cara?”

The guy next to him seems impressed. “We got time,” he says kindly, “tell me about this guy. I’d like to meet him. Sounds like an all-around badass.”

 _“SHE_ is,” Din says pointedly, refusing to miss her right now, but a bit of it must have crept into his voice. “The real deal. A badass for sure, but not conceited or boastful. And she was—"

“I’m sorry,” he interrupts him. Cobb Vanth might not know Mando well at all, but he knows the sound of loss when he hears it. “How long has she been dead?”

Din’s stomach turned over involuntary at just the word ‘dead’ in the same sentence as her name.

“She’s not dead,” he states, with slightly more force than necessary. He wasn’t sure though if it was more to convince this stranger or himself. For all he knew she could be sitting around a campfire like this very one on another desert planet right now, telling the same story he was with a smile on her lips.

The other man’s next question interrupts his wayward thoughts. “Why isn’t she here then,” Vanth asks. “She’s your woman, right?”

“We’re not …….” Din tries to explain and fails. “It never got to that point, at least not openly” he says. “Maybe one day, but she had some shit to deal with and I had the kid and we…..just…..”

That’s all the explanation the other man needs. “Got it. It’s complicated--all women are complicated—no surprise there. Is she kind of pretty, at least?”

Din almost scoffs. That was an understatement of the century. He settles for the simplest answer so they can move onto a safer topic that doesn’t make his chest ache more than all the smoke he’s inhaled from the fire.

“Yeah, she’s _kind of_ pretty,” he says honestly. “Like space is _kind of_ big or _kind of_ dark.”

Vanth laughs at the description. “That’s all I get, though?” his unlikely companion asks. “What does she look like? Tall? Short? You know….like this?” He proceeds to make an exaggerated curvy hourglass shape with his hands. It was meant to be the ideal curvy woman, but it was surprisingly close to her actual body proportions.

“You could say that.” He knew he couldn’t give any more away. She was still running from her past and there was no way in hell anyone would ever find her by piecing together any information he supplied to a stranger—he’d rather die than lead anyone to her trail. He thinks of a safe general description he could give that would do her justice. “Dark hair, dark eyes. Strong as hell, but still remarkably soft. Not especially tall but she’s got these hips and this damn smirk where she bites her lip…..”

The other guy lets out a real laugh. “Now we’re talkin….”

……..

Luckily, the conversation naturally drifts to topics more aligned with the enemy they’d be flighting for the good of the locals. This guy is certainly no Mandalorian, but doesn’t seem totally inept with strategy and battle tactics used to take down a larger and more powerful opponent.

“You’ve done this at least once before, so do Mandalorians ever retire?” Cobb asks, when the conversation moves back to personal questions as the night marches on toward dawn.

Din doesn’t hesitate answering for once. Usually, people ask all sort of facetious and invasive questions about his people, but this is a simple one. “We do,” he answers simply.

His companion seems interested. “Then you _what_? Live on a small planet on a little farm or mining settlement and live among kind and gentle villagers for the rest of your days?”

That suggestion made Din bristle, remembering the last time he found kind and gentle villagers and how one of them tried to lift off his helmet like it was no big deal, even after he explained what it meant. “I’ve visited a farming planet once with kind villagers,” he says shortly. “I lasted less than three days before I was ready to lose my mind.”

Vanth doesn’t seem convinced one bad experience should exclude trying again. “Maybe there’s someone there you might get attached to if you gave it a chance?” he suggests.

Din shakes his head, knowing that’s impossible. “The people there haven’t seen any of the things I’ve seen. There’s no common ground, believe me. Farming or mining might be peaceful yes, but at what cost?” Din’s feeling unsarcastically philosophical for some reason. _It’s probably Cara’s fault._ “You are who you are, and you shouldn’t have to pretend to be someone else to fit in a place you want to call home.” Din was only talking about himself, but he realized what he said could apply to the other man as well.

“I need excitement and a challenge,” he explains. “Peaceful is great, but peace after a good fight is better. I’d still need a little fire to be happy.”

The other man gets a curious and mischievous look on his face. “And this Cara, does she have that fire?” he asks, trying and failing to sound casual.

Din snorts and he’s almost certain the sound made its way out of the helmet against his will. “I’m pretty sure she _is_ fire.”

It’s the other man’s turn to laugh and shake his head. “You got it bad, man. It’s good to know Mandalorians are just like the rest of us in at least a few ways. You’ll cross paths with her again” he says confidently. “Fate is funny sometimes.”

Din was tried of waiting on fate. When this was over, he’d find a reason to reach out to her. Maybe he’d need help in the upcoming days, or maybe he’d just check and see if she was okay……

.......

These amazing panels were made by the talented [Mandalorianess](https://mandalorianess.tumblr.com/). Check out more of her CaraDin edits :)

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading as always :)  
> Happy Halloween 🎃


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